Public transport woes? Feeling grumpy? New app urges you to ‘GrumpNow’

A free mobile complaints app for commuters, GrumpNow, is celebrating the first anniversary of their soft launch in iOS last year – and hopes that their commuter feedback app will lead to better public transport for all.

Every day, many thousands of people have to rely on public transport to get to and from work, but barely a week goes by when delays, cancellations, or poorly maintained facilities don’t impact commuters, despite many of them paying thousands of pounds every year to commute.

Social media networks are full of people privately sharing their public transport woes in the heat of the moment, however this feedback is rarely seen by the politicians and transport networks who can do something about it.

The Grump Now app is designed to provide frustrated travellers with the ability to vent in the moment, and unlike futile rants by individuals on Facebook and Twitter, GrumpNow compiles feedback from app users to publish headline data both on the app and on social media, as well as sharing detailed group insights each month with app users, passenger user groups, newspapers and MPs. You can also engage on Twitter at @grumpnow

A spokeman for the app developers explained:

“Our data shows that there are clear economic and social impacts created by the UK’s poor transport networks.

“2018 has been a hard year for many rail commuters in particular: the timetable changes in May, the complete cancellation of services on GWR in October and SWR in November, further compounded by ongoing industrial action disruption across Northern and SWR as well. #ItsNotGoodEnough, and despite noises from the Government and the transport operators, there is no real sign of improvement.

“Our app uniquely enables passengers to log their complaints so that they become part of a wider, independent, and incontestable data set that shows just how bad things have become.

“Not only do our users log (or Grump!) their complaints – the delays and cancellations, short forming, standing room only, the cleanliness of the service and anti-social behaviour, to name a few, but uniquely, the Impacts are also recorded. It’s not just being late for work, or missed appointments, but also missed family time, paid for childcare, paid for alternative travel.

“By collating and sharing this insight, the commuters’ voice cannot be ignored. Ultimately, we want to see the transport services that commuters pay good money to use reflect the prices they pay for the service.